The “Wonder Boy”, with his Spring 2022 collection, continues to stand by his view of fashion as revolutionary.
At 25, you can feel like you’re too young to be old and too old to be young. At 25, what are you supposed to be doing—building a family, a career, or enjoying the now? The quarter life crisis kicks in and it’s yet another liminal phase in your life.
Olivier Rousteing, at 25, became Balmain’s creative director—a surprising move from the house then. In 2009, Rousteing started his journey with Balmain, working closely with the past creative director Christophe Decarnin.
What started as a homage of Decarnin’s trademark has now become Olivier’s own flavor. He took the journey into his own hands and elevated the brand’s presence, catering to the younger audience but not compromising the house’s glamour and classic style. Last year marks the 10th year of Rousteing as Balmain’s creative director.
In the brand’s tribute to the Creative Director, Beyoncé articulates the entirety of Rousteing’s career so far, “And once you made it through that door, you made sure that it did not shut behind you.” Olivier has made sure that from the pieces to the models, inclusion and diversity were always there.
With the charm of his youth, he married an array of his influences—music, history, and culture and continues to create a yet again groundbreaking collection for his Spring 2022 collection.
But the biggest inspiration for this was the tragic incident that happened in his house in 2020. He was injured after the fireplace in his house exploded.
Rebirth and freedom—he writes in his Instagram post about the Spring 2022 collection. With the bandages and gauze straps that enveloped his body in his healing process, he sketched pieces with bands, weaves, and straps.
The designs truly exude rebirth and freedom—cuts that show just enough skin; classic pieces of gold, black, white, brown, nude that give a classic yet contemporary feel.
With our nation familiar with and a living form of rebirth and freedom, it is only right that we get hold of these pieces with our own hands.
The good news is, we finally can. The pieces from Olivier Rousteing’s 10th anniversary capsule is now available in Balmain’s Manila store.
Balmain is located at Solaire Resort & Casino
